ProfNet Experts Available on Employee Wellness, Healthy Home Trends, Lawn Maintenance, More

NEW YORK, April 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.

You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network – it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform

EXPERT ALERTS

• Our Obsession With Fitness Trackers
• Brain and Emotional Development in Adolescents
• Trends in Employee Assistance and Wellness Programs
• FDA Must Come Clean About Real Risks of Smokeless Tobacco
• Maintaining Your Yard's Appearance and Health
• Healthy Home Trends: What Clients Want

MEDIA JOBS

• Freelance Copy Editor – The Culture Trip
• Healthcare Reporter – The Oklahoman
• Social Media Director - WNYC

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

• Freelancers: Don't Make These 5 Mistakes That Kill Your Credibility
• Career Crossroads: Surviving and Thriving After a Newsroom Layoff
• Blog Profiles: Small-Business Blogs

EXPERT ALERTS:

Our Obsession With Fitness Trackers
Jonathan Jordan
Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach and Fitness Blogger
Jonathan Jordan Fitness, San Francisco
This week, a team at the University of Wisconsin published a study on wearable fitness trackers in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study looked at how four popular trackers compared with an ECG and against each other for heart rate monitoring. Interpretation of the results by news media so far has been cautiously optimistic, says Jordan: "As a top personal trainer catering to San Francisco's A-type professionals, I see a lot frustrating relationships between my clients and their tech gadgets. Every day, I have to ask one to quit fidgeting with a wearable and focus on the workout. For a growing number of overworked and overconnected folks, their obsession with tracking is having an unhealthy effect. I've seen clients have mini panic attacks when they discover that five minutes into a workout their gadget isn't tracking. The fear that the work 'doesn't count' if it's not tracked and reported is alarming. Sometimes our quest for data gets in the way of actually connecting with our bodies and causes stress and anxiety, where the goal is to care for the body and mind."
ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/jonathan_jordan
Website: http://www.jj-fit.com
Expert Contact: jj@jj-fit.com

Brain and Emotional Development in Adolescents
Fred McKenzie, Ph.D.
ExecutiveDirector of the School of Social Work, Doctor of Social Work Program
Aurora University
"Adolescents are an entirely unique group -- no longer children, yet not quite adults. Through a concerted effort to study the neurological development of young adults, we are able to understand larger societal trends, ranging from the growing youth participation in peaceful marches and demonstrations, to the unfortunate prevalence of violence in schools."
Dr. McKenzie is available to discuss his comprehensive expertise on adolescents. His book, "Theory and Practice with Adolescents: An Applied Approach," focuseson adolescents as an individual age group of clinical study. In addition to this topic, Dr. McKenzie can speak to the impactof brain and emotional development on possible motivations inherent in adolescent development in general, youth participation in civil movements, violence in schools, refugee relations and faith in the social work profession. He received a Ph.D. in Clinical Social Work from Loyola University of Chicago in 1995, a Master of Social Work from George Williams College in 1982, and a Bachelor of Arts from George Williams in 1973. He is based in Aurora, Ill.
Contact: Hadley Dreibelbis, hadley.dreibelbis@finnpartners.com

Trends in Employee Assistance and Wellness Programs
Dr. Dave Sharar
Managing Director
Chestnut Global Health
"Companies need to look at creative way to improve how their EAP and wellness programs are deployed, utilized and evaluated. Programs that promote meaningful utilization and proactive outreach deliver the best business results."
Sharar is available to discuss trends in employee assistance and wellness programs. Chestnut Global Health recently released the results from the 2017 Trends Report that identifies the top developments that will shape the EAP (employee assistance program) and wellness industry in the year ahead: 1) Requests for EAP support due to spikes in anxiety among employees are on the rise; 2) Calls for improved collaboration and coordination of care; 3) The growing use – and demand – for sophisticated ROI (return on investment) tools that provide CFO-level analysis of the business value of their EAP.
ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/chestnutglobal/
Contact: Charles Epstein, che@backboneinc.com

FDA Must Come Clean About Real Risks of Smokeless Tobacco
Scott D. Ballin
Health Policy Consultant
"The Food and Drug Administration is failing to follow established ethical principles by leaving the public in the dark about the relative dangers of smokeless tobacco compared to cigarettes. The failure of the FDA to adequately inform the public that smokeless tobacco products are significantly safer than cigarettes stands in the way of achieving the best outcomes for public health, according to a paper published in Addictive Behaviors by professor David T. Sweanor and assistant professor Lynn T. Kozlowski. Sweanor and Kozlowski point to a national youth survey showing 31.8 percent of respondents reporting smokeless tobacco was riskier than cigarettes, and only 7.1 percent reporting smokeless was less risky. In total, 93 percent of those surveyed didn't know smokeless tobacco is less hazardous than cigarettes."
Based in Washington, D.C., Ballin has spent more than 40 years involved in issues related to tobacco and public health.  He has worked on a spectrum of tobacco and nicotine issues ranging from labeling reforms on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products, to FDA regulation of tobacco, excise taxes, clean indoor air laws and tobacco agriculture reforms. In recent years, he has worked as an adviser to the University of Virginia on a series of dialogues -- "The Morven Dialogues" -- on tobacco, nicotine and alternative products harm reduction and authored a series of white papers on the subject. Currently, he is advising the U.S. Food and Drug Law Institute in preparation for an October 2016 tobacco conference. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and the FDA on numerous occasions and has worked extensively with the media.
Contact: Mark Goldman, mark@goldmanmccormick.com

Maintaining Your Yard's Appearance and Health
Ben Hamza, Ph.D.
Director of Technical Operations
TruGreen
"Lawns become distressed from summer entertaining with family and friends, and require care throughout fall. A good fall feed is important to lawn, tree and shrub health as roots continue active growth before the dormant winter months and store reserves needed for hungry plants in spring. Throughout the fall, there are things you can do to maintain your yard's appearance and health. Keeping leaves and debris cleared off your lawn will keep your lawn healthier. Continue to clear away debris that can become matted and damage your lawn, and inspect your landscape mulch in the fall. Clean up beds, refresh mulch and make sure that no more than two to three inches of mulch remains in the beds, and be sure to not walk on frost-covered lawns, as doing so may cause brown footprints to appear later. These footprints may remain visible until spring green-up begins."
Hamza develops innovative and responsible agronomic/horticultural programs through collaborations across the United States and Canada. He also manages product and fleet assets, as well as federal and state regulatory and safety compliance. Hamza has been with TruGreen since February 1996 and has held several positions, including specialist in Tampa East, field manager, and research scientist and project leader at the TruGreen Technical Center. He also served as regional technical manager for the Michigan region.
Website: https://www.trugreen.com
Contact: Leighton Thompson, leighton.thompson@mslgroup.com

Healthy Home Trends: What Clients Want
Jesse Fowler
President
Tellus Design + Build
Contractors in the "green" design and build industry must be able to pinpoint what it is clients find important in their home project. As one of the first "green" builders in Southern California, Fowler predicts these priorities: "1) A healthy house. 2) 'Green,' if it has a financial return or payback in 'x' number of years. 3) 'Green,' for the environment. A wellness standard (such as the one being rolled out by Delos), which can clarify specifically what's physically healthy about a structure, will have a huge impact on buy-in."
Fowler is the author of Construction Confidential, a blog exposé for tips and tricks to save clients time and money on their design and build projects. He is based in Costa Mesa and Los Angeles, Calif.
Blog: http://blog.tellusdesignbuild.com
ProfNet Profile: http://www.profnetconnect.com/jessefowler
Website: http://www.tellusdesignbuild.com
Contact: Dani Miles, dani@impressimarketing.com

MEDIA JOBS:

Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/

• Freelance Copy Editor – The Culture Trip
• Healthcare Reporter – The Oklahoman
• Social Media Director - WNYC

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:

Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line.

• FREELANCERS: DON'T MAKE THESE 5 MISTAKES THAT KILL YOUR CREDIBILITY. The life of a freelancer can be exhilarating and full of surprises, but this career path is not without challenges. Here are five credibility killers, and the steps you should take to tackle them: http://bit.ly/2pd9kT8
• CAREER CROSSROADS: SURVIVING AND THRIVING AFTER A NEWSROOM LAYOFF. The newspaper industry has taken a beating in recent years. Shrinking ad revenue has led to tighter newsrooms. Consolidation, downsizing, buyouts, and cutbacks have become familiar within the industry. At the start of 2017, Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the country, announced cutbacks. Veteran editor Christina Joseph Robinson found herself on the chopping block. Read more: http://bit.ly/2p4I5Kt
• BLOG PROFILES: SMALL-BUSINESS BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry/subject and looks at a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the topic. This week, the team looks at small-business blogs: http://prn.to/2plZ7mx

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SOURCE ProfNet